I, or, if you're talking about writing like we should be, the first person point of view. It's not something that I really write in - third person is my default - but I have tried it out. I realized that Sky Pirates, in the version I wrote for NaNo, works better as first instead of third. Not every book needs it - there are some where they would have been better in third - but there are some that are amazing in first person.
The book I'm currently reading - Thirteen Reasons Why - is one of the rare books that can carry first person. It is hair raising on the back of your neck creepy and you wouldn't get the same connection in the third person with the main character. First person makes it so that you are Cory instead of just looking through a glass window at what Cory is doing. Mystery novels are sometimes, but not always, written in first person. Again, it helps to pull you into the mystery and solving the crime. It helps to set tone as well because you're going to spend the entire novel with the main character, either solving the crime or hiding the evidence of the crime, so you want to have a deeper connection than most.
Are there some first person novels that could have done better as third? Yep. The Twilight series comes to mind as one of the best examples that could have done better as third. If you've been here for a while or you've read in the archives, yes, I always bring up Twilight when this comes up. Sorry / not sorry. You can see it when you go to the movie adaptation and what is happening is made better by seeing everyone else clearly. When we just get Bella's perspective, it's too narrow and... well, she comes across as whiny. I didn't start liking her until the movies and, if I had to only have one vs the other for the rest of eternity, I'd go for the movie version. Now, this is not to say that all vampire novels have to be in third or that none can survive as first person. Thanks Anne Rice.
I guess I'd close this out by giving you some questions for you to think on when you're considering first person. Will you be able to pull in the reader closer? Will it be too narrow to draw in the reader? Will you want to go back and forth between the two, either in an interview format / flashbacks / letters? Just a few questions to think about. It is best to have someone you trust to give honest feedback about what you're doing for point of view too as you might think it's awesome but someone else will go "nope, too narrow". Well, until next time, keep on writing and thinking about your point of view.
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